Australian Museum Minerals Gallery

The Australian Museum’s extraordinary minerals collection, curated over almost 200 years, tells a truly amazing story of our planet’s geological history.

The Australian Museum Minerals Gallery is a brilliant showcase of the full breadth of the Australian Museum’s collections in the Earth Sciences.

The rocks and minerals housed in the Australian Museum’s extraordinary collection, curated over almost 200 years, tell a truly amazing story our history.

Minerals are the building blocks of our planet. Discover what they reveal about the history of Earth and our solar system and what makes them so essential to our existence.

Throughout history, civilisations and empires have been built on mineral resources and they are an integral part of our every day life. However our excessive consumption means reducing our environmental impact is a priority at both global and local levels.

Rocks and minerals hold the secrets to the origins and composition of our solar system. They are a fossil record of planetary evolution and can tell us about the processes that formed planet Earth.

The Australian collection is renowned for its mineral diversity, crystal perfection, aesthetic appeal and high Australian content.

The Albert Chapman Collection consists of 820 specimens renowned worldwide for its mineralogical diversity, crystal perfection, aesthetic appeal and high Australian content.

The George Smith Collection contains superb and rare specimens obtained from famous mines in Australia and around the world.

The Warren Somerville Collection is a world- class collection that contains some of the finest mineral specimens from over 100 Australian mine sites and numerous overseas localities.

The Sir Douglas Mawson Collection contains 2000 Antarctic rock and mineral specimens found during his heroic Australasian Antarctic Expedition.

The Australian Museum Gold Collection contains over 980 specimens from Australia and overseas that were donated, exchanged or purchased throughout the life of the collection.

The Australian Museum Opal Collection includes opals from both sedimentary and volcanic origins, ranging from common and precious opals.

The Australian Museum’s Meteorite Collection is the oldest and one of the largest and most diverse in Australia.

The Australian Museum Ornamental Mineral Collection consists of exquisitely carved, shaped and polished minerals tracing back to acquisitions in 1878.